Chapter 5 Under the Same Roof

That Tuesday afternoon, the heat seemed to cling to their skin like a second layer. The car's air conditioning could barely cope with the humidity, and yet, Nico couldn't stop smiling as he drove. He had an idea that had been brewing for weeks, and he had finally realized it. A perfect opportunity, he thought.

"It's going to be great," he said enthusiastically, without taking his eyes off the road. "A bigger place, with a patio, half an hour from the airport. Can you imagine Sundays with barbecue and wine under the stars?"

Camila slowly turned her head toward him.

"What are you talking about?"

Nico gave her a knowing smile, like someone giving a surprise gift.

"Didn't I tell you? I got the rent on that house I showed you last month, the one on the corner with the garden. Julián and Sofi are coming to live with us. We're going to share."

Silence.

Camila blinked. Several times. As if she needed a reboot.

"Julián... and Sofi?"

"Yes, love. Four bedrooms, plenty of space, two bathrooms. It's going to be like living on vacation all year round. Imagine... you and Sofi making cocktails, us grilling." Nico laughed, delighted with his own vision. "And besides, we save a ton. All advantages."

Camila didn't respond. She just turned her gaze back to the windshield, trying to control the sudden nausea that was overcoming her.

Living with Julián?

After that night, they had barely exchanged words. He hadn't written. Neither had she. They both knew that getting close again was like touching a live flame. They had sworn to themselves that it had been a mistake, an impulse... a rift that would heal with time.

But now, they were going to have him in the kitchen. In the living room. In the shower next door. On the patio.

Every day.

"Is something wrong?" "Nico asked, turning the radio down a little.

She tried to smile, but her jaw was tight as if she were holding back a scream.

"No... it just caught me off guard."

"I thought you'd love it. You've been saying for months that this apartment is suffocating you."

"Yeah, sure... it's just... Julián and Sofi, wow. It's a lot."

Nico reached out and stroked her leg.

"It's going to be okay. I trust you, me... the four of us. We're like family."

Camila felt the world spin with unbearable slowness. Family. That word struck her like a cruel joke.

Julián, for his part, was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone screen, seeing nothing. Nico had sent him the contract for the new place, with celebratory emojis and a "It's going to be epic, bro!"

And he, like a coward, had responded with a "Yes, it's going to be good."

But inside, he was devastated.

What the hell had I done?

When Nico had proposed sharing a house, it had seemed logical. Convenient. Natural. They'd been friends for years. Julián had said yes almost without thinking, like someone accepting one more beer.

But that was before.

Before the kiss. Before Camila's look in the darkness. Before the closet. Before the unresolved desire that now followed him like a dirty echo.

And now... they were going to live together.

How was he going to bear it?

How was he going to have her near him, see how she laughed with Nico, how she kissed him in the kitchen, how she shared a bed with him? How was he going to endure it without giving himself away? Without looking at her too much. Without looking for her when she walked by in the hall in her robe.

And the worst part... how was he going to live with that tension if Camila felt it too?

Because he knew her. She knew how to read their silences. And in the last message they exchanged-barely an "are you okay?" from him and a "yes, everything's fine" from her-something vibrated behind it. She wasn't okay. And neither was he.

That same night, they met.

Nico had called the three of them together to sign the contract and toast with pizza and beer. Camila had no escape.

When she entered Julián's apartment, she saw him standing next to Sofi, who was excitedly talking about the colors to paint the walls of their room. He was silent. His eyes searched for her as soon as she walked through the door.

Camila felt time stand still.

Julián swallowed.

She looked away.

Tension floated in the air like an invisible perfume that no one else noticed.

"Cami!" Sofi said enthusiastically, giving her a hug. "I'm so glad we're going to be roommates. You don't know how happy I am!" "Yes... me too," Camila said, feigning a joy she didn't feel.

Julián said nothing. He just approached, kissed her on the cheek-an invisible line that trembled between them-and walked away.

Throughout the night, they avoided each other as if playing a secret game that the others couldn't see. A measured choreography, where every accidental touch was a contained fire.

And while Nico enthusiastically toasted "a new stage," Camila looked at her glass of wine, and then at Julián.

And she knew everything was about to spiral out of control.